Caretaker (episode)
The newly commissioned starship Voyager and a Maquis raider are flung into the remote Delta Quadrant by a powerful entity known as the Caretaker. (Series Premiere) Summary :Unhappy with a new treaty, Federation Colonists along the Cardassian border have banded together. :Calling themselves "The Maquis," they continue to fight the Cardassians. :Some consider them heroes, but to the governments of the Federation and Cardassia, they are outlaws. Teaser Weapons fire streaks through space as a Cardassian warship pounds a much smaller vessel with phasers. Piloting the small vessel, Maquis leader Chakotay is desperately trying to hold his ship together and get the impulse engines power steady. Chakotay asks his half-Klingon engineer, B'Elanna Torres, to be creative; Torres replies that it is hard to be creative with 39-year-old engines. The Cardassian commander, Gul Evek, hails the ship, telling them to stand down, but Chakotay ignores him and tells his half-Klingon engineer, B'Elanna Torres, that if she can keep his engines going for 30 more seconds at full impulse, he will get them into the Badlands. Torres says that she can get enough power to the engines if they shut down the weapons systems. Tuvok, a Vulcan officer, advises against that, but Torres retorts that weapons aren't even denting the shields. Chakotay concurs with his engineer. Tuvok shuts down the phasers and Chakotay orders the last photon torpedoes fired so that they can use the power from that system. The Maquis vessel soars into the plasma storms, with the Cardassian warship right behind them. But as Chakotay's piloting skills are enough to get them around the funnels of energy in the Badlands, the Cardassian ship is less lucky, and is severely damaged. Tuvok informs Chakotay that the Cardassian ship is sending out a distress call on all Cardassian frequencies. Chakotay relaxes and sets a course for a planet where they can make repairs when a bright flash erupts through the room, startling everyone. Tuvok reports that they passed through a coherent tetryon beam from an unknown source and that a massive displacement wave is rapidly approaching them. Chakotay tries to get his ship maneuvered away, and asks Torres if there is anything left in the impulse engines. The Maquis ship zips away, but they are not fast enough and the crew jolts forward as the displacement wave impacts them. Act One In the Federation Penal Settlement in New Zealand on Earth, several inmates, wearing ankle monitors, are performing labor. One man's work is interrupted when an authoritative-looking woman approaches him and asks, "Tom Paris?" The man glances up at her and she introduces herself as Kathryn Janeway. She states that she served with his father on the Al-Batani and that she would like to speak with him about a job she wants him to do. He sarcastically replies that he is already doing a job for the Federation, but Janeway says that the Rehab Commission is very pleased with his work and has given her permission to discuss the matter with him. He replies, "Well, then, I guess I'm yours," and walks with her. As they walk, Janeway informs Paris that she was his father's science officer on the Arias Expedition. Paris comments that she must be good, as his father only accepts the best and brightest. Janeway then launches into the story of what the Federation wants Tom Paris to do. She tells him that her mission is to track down a Maquis vessel that vanished in the Badlands a week previous. Paris advises against it, having never seen a Federation starship that could maneuver through the plasma storms; Janeway retorts by saying that he has never seen Voyager. Paris infers that she'd like him to lead them to his former colleagues and notes that because he was only with them a few weeks, he didn't know many of their hiding places. Janeway replies that he knows the territory better than anyone the Federation has. When Paris asks why that particular ship, Janeway replies that her chief of security (Tuvok) had infiltrated that ship and had not reported in some time. Paris muses that perhaps it was only the chief of security that disappeared. Janeway reveals that the ship was under the command of Chakotay, himself a former Starfleet officer. Paris acknowledges that he knew Chakotay, but that the two never got along. Paris says that the point of disagreement was that Chakotay left Starfleet "on principle," to defend his home colony, but he considered Paris a mercenary who joined "whoever would pay his bar bill," an accusation to which Paris admits. Paris concludes that he has no problem helping to track down the Maquis, but wants to know what is in it for him. Janeway says that if he helps them track down the Maquis, they will help him at his next outmate review. Janeway informs him that officially, he'd be a Starfleet observer, to which Paris replies that he's the best pilot Janeway could have. Janeway is firm in this, causng Paris to agree with the rejoinder, "Story of my life." A Betazoid female pilots a shuttle towards Deep Space 9 as Tom Paris, now clad in a fresh Starfleet uniform, walks up to her. Lieutenant Stadi focuses on flying the craft, but she livens up to Paris a little as he turns on the charm. He says that Stadi is changing his mind about Betazoids, because he always thought that they were warm and sensual. Stadi says that she can be warm and sensual, but Paris replies that she can, but just not to him. The conversation shifts as a sleek vessel comes into view at one of DS9's docking rings. Stadi identifies it as their ship, the USS Voyager. She states that the ship is of the Intrepid class, has a new variable warp nacelle configuration, giving it a sustainable cruising speed of Warp 9.975; it has 15 decks and a crew complement of 141. It is equipped with bio-neural circuitry. Paris inquires as to the circuitry, and as she flies around Voyager towards the shuttlebay, she informs Paris that the bio-neural circuitry speeds up response time in the computer. On board Deep Space Nine, Quark is trying to sell bright, rare crystals to a young Starfleet Ensign of Asian descent. He tries to politely tell Quark he is not interested and says Cadets were warned about Ferengi at the Academy. Upon hearing this, Quark starts to get upset that the Federation is spreading lies about the Ferengi and that he will make a formal protest to the Federation Counsel. Quark asks for the young Ensign's name for the report, to which he replies, “Kim, Harry Kim.” Ensign Kim offers to buy the whole tray of crystals in an effort to smooth things over. As Quark, who was faking his protest to make a sale, brings over the crystals and begins to negotiate, Paris interrupts and tells Ensign Kim that the crystals Quark is trying to sell him can be found on virtually any planet in the system and can be bought for little or nothing. Now knowing that Quark was trying to rip him off, Ensign Kim leaves with Tom Paris who says, "Didn't they warn you about Ferengi at the Academy?" Tom and Harry enter Sickbay aboard Voyager and report to the chief medical officer. When Tom identifies himself, the doctor comments, "Ah, yes. The observer." When Paris comments that he seems to be observing some kind of problem now, the doctor says that he was a surgeon on Caldik Prime when Paris was stationed there, though they never met. He says his medical records have arrived and that the Captain had asked if he were on board, saying that he should check in with her. Kim, sensing a tense situation, says that he hasn't yet paid his respects to the Captain, either. The doctor says that perhaps it would be a good thing for a new operations officer to do. After they leave Sickbay, Harry asks Tom what the story is between him and the CMO. Paris responds that he's gotten tired of telling it and that he's sure someone will be happy to tell him. Meanwhile, Janeway is in her ready room talking to her fiance, Mark, on her LCARS terminal about her dog who turns out to be pregnant. Janeway insists that the dog stays with him, leading him to reply, "Is this another 'love me, love my dog' demand?" to which Janeway quickly replies, "Yes." Janeway says they will be leaving as soon as she approves the system status reports. Mark says he won't bother her anymore, leading Janeway to get on her knees in front of the terminal and says, "You never bother me, except the way I love to be bothered. Understand?" Saying that she'll see him in a few weeks, Janeway quickly asks Mark to pick up her dog's doggie bed, which Mark then says he already did -- an hour ago. After the connection closes, the door chimes. Paris and Kim enter. Janeway welcomes them aboard Voyager, to which Kim replies with a stiff, "Thank you, sir," standing at full attention, causing Paris to look at him curiously. Telling the nervous ensign to stand "at ease, before you sprain something," she lets him know that protocol aside, she doesn't like being addressed as "sir," to which Kim responds, "I'm sorry...ma'am." Janeway smiles and says that ma'am is acceptable in a crunch, but that she prefers "Captain." She tells them they are getting ready to leave and she shows them to the bridge. Walking out onto the bridge, she introduces them to her first officer, Cavit, who exchanges a hearty handshake with Kim and one with Paris reluctantly and only after Paris extends his hand first. Janeway shows Kim to the Ops station and asks if he would like to take over. Kim responds, "Yes, ma'am," to which she replies, "It's not crunch time yet, Mr. Kim. I'll let you know when." At a nod from Janeway, the first officer instructs Lt. Stadi to lay in their course and clear departure with Operations. After Stadi confirms this, they complete the pre-launch sequence and prepare for launch, which Janeway orders with "Engage." The dorsal light of the ship comes on, illuminating the ship's registration, and the ship departs. With the ship underway, Tom Paris heads down to the mess hall for some hot tomato soup. As he is ordering the soup from the replicator, Paris notices that Voyager's Chief Medical Officer and Commander Cavit are looking at him with judgmental eyes, while talking to Harry Kim. As Paris makes his way over to Kim's table, Cavit and the CMO make a hasty departure. When Paris finally sits down, he says to Kim, "There. You see, I told you it wouldn't take long." Paris then begins to tell Kim that it was true that he caused an accident which led to the deaths of three Starfleet officers and that he falsified reports. What led him to turn himself in and tell the truth, Paris sarcastically remarks that it took "the three dead officers to come in the middle of the night and (teach) me the true meaning of Christmas." Paris gets up to leave and says that he knows that Cavit and the CMO told him to stay away from him and that he should listen to them. As Paris walks away, Kim replies "I don't need anyone to choose my friends for me." Just then, Captain Janeway summons Paris and Kim to the bridge to inform them that the ship has reached the badlands. Voyager enters the volatile region. Janeway, Cavit, and Ensign Rollins are crowded around the tactical station trying to ascertain where the Maquis ship would be. With some assistance from Paris, the ship begins to head in. Shortly after, Ensign Kim's sensors read that a coherent tetryon beam is scanning the ship. Janeway asks Kim if he can identify the source of the beam, but he cannot. The sensors then find out that a displacement wave is quickly moving towards the ship. Cavit suggests that they may be able to disperse the wave with a graviton particle wave. Janeway orders that it be done. It is later found that the field had no effect on the wave. Janeway orders Stadi to move the ship away from the wave at full impulse. However, the ship is unable to outrun it and the wave collides with Voyager. After the ship has been released from the wave, it has suffered heavy damage. Janeway comes to and checks Cavit's pulse, only to find that he is dead. Stadi also did not survive. Janeway asks where they are. Harry Kim replies that if his sensors are working perfectly, they are 70,000 light years from the Alpha Quadrant and that they have been transported to the Delta Quadrant. Act Two dwarfed by the Caretaker's array in 2371.]] As the crew begins to make repairs, Janeway orders Kim to try and hail the enormous array in front of Voyager. Just then, Engineering contacts the bridge and informs Janeway that the Chief Engineer was also killed and that the ship is facing a possible warp core breach. Janeway heads down to Engineering to help and orders Kim to see what the situation is at sickbay. She also orders that Rollins be in command. Paris heads down with Kim as well. Adding to the list of causalities, Paris sees that the CMO and the medical staff were all killed. Janeway makes it to Engineering and finds out that there is a micro-fracture in the warp core and that a breach is imminent. In order to save the ship Janeway orders the lock down of the magnetic constrictor and Lieutenant Joseph Carey warns Janeway that they may not be able to initialize the dilithium reaction and that it would make warp drive impossible. Janeway sees that there is not many other alternatives and orders that it be done. At the same time, Harry Kim orders the computer to "activate Emergency Medical Hologram" and The Doctor is activated for the first time. He asks, "Please state the nature of the medical emergency." Kim replies that the ship's Doctor is dead and that the hologram is the only medical officer on board the ship since the entire medical staff was killed too. The Doctor informs Kim and Paris that a replacement will be needed as soon as possible. Paris then informs the EMH that he will be stuck with them for a while. Meanwhile, down in engineering, the warp core breach appears to have been averted. Janeway then orders that the magnetic constrictor be engaged. The pressure begins to stabilize. Just then, the ship is being scanned and people begin to disappear. Eventually, everyone disappears with the exception of the The Doctor. Strangely enough, the crew finds themselves in a farm, with wheat and cattle. Soon after, a middle aged woman emerges from the farmhouse named "Aunt Adah" and asks the crew to come up to the house for some lemonade and sugar cookies. Janeway says that the crew shouldn't be fooled, since they have only been transported 100 kilometers from Voyager and that they are actually inside the array. The grew is greeted by holographic projections of lively southerners. Janeway orders that Kim and Paris find the holographic projector. As Kim scans with his tricorder, he finds strange readings coming from a barn. A holographic projection of an attractive southern girl tries to pull Kim and Paris away from the barn, but is unsuccessful. Soon after, the crew is subjected to painful genetic testing, alongside the missing Maquis crew. Afterwards, the crew is returned to the ship, along with the Maquis. But they then find out that two of their officers are missing from their respective ships, Harry Kim from Voyager and B'Elanna Torres from the Val Jean. Janeway, along with Chakotay return to the so called farm and demands answers about their missing crewmen. The old man playing the banjo is asked, but he simply ignores all the questions that are directed to him about Kim and Torres. Around this time, Janeway returns to Voyager and decides to set a course to where the array mysteriously continues to send energy pulses. Act Three While on the way to the fifth planet in the system where the energy pulses are being sent, Voyager encounters a small cargo-ship inside a debris field called the Baxial, commanded by a Talaxian named Neelix. At first, Neelix thinks that Voyager might be wanting to take a piece of the debris field, but Captain Janeway assures him that they will do nothing of the sort. Janeway then asks if he knows where the missing officers of Voyager and the Val Jean might have gone. Neelix suspects that they may have been taken to the Ocampa homeworld, to a city located deep beneath the planet's surface. Neelix offers to guide Voyager to the planet and Janeway agrees. Neelix is beamed aboard, where he is greeted by Tuvok and embraced by the irrepressible Talaxian. Voyager finally makes its way to the planet. Janeway, Paris, Chakotay, Neelix and Tuvok beam down and are immediately captured by a group of Kazon, a rogue faction in the Delta Quadrant. For some assistance and since the Kazon desperately need water, Janeway arranges for huge cannisters of water to be beamed down in exchange for some answers. She asks where those Ocampa might be, and Jabin points to a battered Ocampan woman and says, "she is an Ocampa." As Jabin continues, he explains that the array is used by the Caretaker who provides the Ocampa with everything they need. He has been torturing Kes to find a way into the Ocampan underground complex, but she does not give an answer. Around this time Neelix tries to barter with Jabin for the release of Kes in exchange for the water as well. Jabin refuses and Neelix grabs him and warns the surrounding Kazon to drop their weapons or he will kill him. The rest of the crew gets their weapons back and shoot at the enormous water containers. With the Kazon distracted with the water spilling out onto the ground quickly, Janeway contacts Voyager to beam them up. Soon after, the crew realizes that Neelix and Kes are lovers. Meanwhile, Torres and Kim are being held against their will by the Ocampa. They try to devise a way out when a young Ocampa nurse comes up to them and tells them about secret passageways to the surface. But, she says that there are meters of solid rock to get through and even with the proper tools, it may take days or even weeks to get through. Ever determined, Kim and Torres ask for her help. While Kes is being tended to by The Doctor, Janeway asks if there is any way to get to their crew members. Kes replies that she escaped through a tunnel underground, but now, the passageway she came out of is sealed by solid rock and they won't be able to get through. Janeway assures they will be able to with their transporter technology. Kes then says that there are beaches in the tunnels which will help them get through. Kim and Torres manage to escape, but the tunnels around the Ocampa facility are beginning to weaken because of the array firing at the tunnels to prevent any further Ocampa from escaping. The energy bursts from the array also increase. Tuvok hypothesises that the Caretaker is dying and he is continuing to send energy pulses so the Ocampa will be able to sustain itself before he dies. To go and look for Torres and Kim, the away team splits up. Soon after, Tom Paris, Neelix and Kes find Kim and Torres. They are immediately beamed back up to Voyager, with Paris and Neelix looking for Janeway, Tuvok and Chakotay before the tunnel completely collapses. They find them, but Chakotay nearly dies when the metal staircase he is on breaks apart. Paris goes back for him and saves his life, thus proving Paris' loyalty. Later, the crew is all beamed aboard and Janeway sets a course back to the array. Act Four Janeway and Tuvok beam to the array and they come to realizes the old man playing the banjo is, in fact, the Caretaker. The caretaker explains that he has been abducting ships from across the galaxy in order to find someone he could procreate with so the Ocampa would be taken care of when he finally died. But, since he pulled many species, he has not found any species that is compatible. Janeway then asks the Caretaker to send the Voyager and the Val Jean's crew back home to the Alpha Quadrant. However, the Caretaker says he cannot, and he wants to destroy the array so it will not fall into Kazon hands. Before he can do this, the Caretaker suddenly dies. Janeway is now left with a difficult decision. Should she use the array to return to the Alpha Quadrant and let it fall into Kazon hands or destroy the array, as the Caretaker wanted? She and Tuvok beam back to Voyager when they discover that a Kazon fleet has arrived at the array. Chakotay on board the Val Jean attempts a suicide run on the largest Kazon ship to take the heat off Voyager. Just as the Val Jean is destroyed, Chakotay is beamed off and on to Voyager. Janeway finally makes her decision and asks Tuvok to prepare tricobalt devices to destroy the array. B'Elanna Torres loudly argues that they will never be able to get home, but Chakotay bluntly overrules her. Janeway then orders Tuvok to fire and the tricobalt devices destroy the array, leaving no debris. After this, Jabin contacts Voyager and tells them that they have made an enemy this day. The Kazon ships withdraw. After this, Neelix and Kes ask Janeway if they could join the crew. After saying that Voyager is not a transport vessel, Neelix convinces Janeway that he will be able to be a guide for the crew through the Delta Quadrant. Janeway agrees. The Maquis crew from the Val Jean then join the Voyager crew and don Starfleet uniforms. After bringing the crew together on the bridge, Janeway maintains that Voyager will get home eventually. They hopefully will find anomalies, wormholes or subspace rifts that will shorten their journey back home to the Alpha Quadrant. With that in place, Captain Kathryn Janeway orders newly reinstated helmsman Lieutenant Tom Paris to "set a course...for home." Thus, Voyager's 70 year journey back home to the Alpha Quadrant begins... Log Entries *''Captain’s log, stardate 48315.6. We’ve traced the energy pulses from the array to the fifth planet of the neighboring system and believe they may have been used in some fashion to transport Kim and Torres to the planet’s surface. '' *''Captain’s log, supplemental. The Maquis ship and Voyager have encountered a debris field where sensors have detected a small vessel. One humanoid life-form is on board. '' Memorable Quotes "We're alone, in an uncharted part of the galaxy. We've already made some friends here, and some enemies. We have no idea of the dangers we're going to face, but one thing is clear, both crews are going to have to work together if we're to survive. That's why Commander Chakotay and I have agreed that this should be one crew, a Starfleet crew and as the only Starfleet vessel assigned to the Delta Quadrant we'll continue to follow our directive: to seek out new worlds and to explore space. But our primary goal is clear. Even at maximum speeds it would take 75 years to reach the Federation. But I'm not willing to settle for that. There's another entity like the Caretaker out there somewhere who has the ability to get us there a lot faster. We'll be looking for her, and we'll be looking for wormholes, spatial rifts or new technologies to help us. Somewhere along this journey, we'll find a way back." : - Captain Kathryn Janeway, to her crew "Set a course, for home." : - Captain Kathryn Janeway "I intend to destroy the array!" : - Captain Kathryn Janeway "Tell one of your cracker-jack Starfleet Transporter Chiefs to keep a lock on me." : - Chakotay "You have made an enemy today." : - Jabin Background Information * The episode starts with scrolling text to set up the first scene; this technique was originally used in the first episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. * Some scenes had to be re-shot because Janeway's hairstyle changed. The producers thought that it would be silly for Janeway to do it in middle of crisis. It was very costly, as they had to rebuild the Ocampa city set which had already been demolished. * The events of "Caretaker" were revisited in several episodes, including , and . * At least twelve Voyager crewmembers died during the first week in the Delta Quadrant, including Lieutenant Commander Cavit, Lt. Stadi, the unnamed chief engineer, the unnamed chief medical officer, and the unnamed "Vulcanoid" nurse. ( ) * As of this episode, Armin Shimerman (Quark) and Richard Poe (Gul Evek) both played the same character on three different live-action Star Trek series. The only other actors to do so are Jonathan Frakes (Commander William T. Riker), Marina Sirtis (Counselor Deanna Troi), John de Lancie (Q) and Michael Ansara (Kang). * Morn is seen (as usual) in Quark's. * Tarik Ergin (Ayala) is the only actor, besides the regulars, to appear in both this episode and the finale . * During Janeway's speech, right after she has stated that Voyager's directive will be "to seek out new worlds and explore space", parts of the TOS and TNG main title themes can be heard for a few seconds. * Due to the cost of building Voyager's bridge, converting the old TNG sets, reshooting the scenes shot with Geneviève Bujold and the ones after Janeway's hairstyle was altered, some very ambitious special effects scenes and a substantial amount of location filming, this episode is, to date, the most expensive Star Trek episode ever produced at $23 million in 1995. Adjusting for inflation, the budget equalled that of and exceeded the budget of . Links and References Main Cast *Kate Mulgrew as Captain Kathryn Janeway *Robert Beltran as Chakotay *Roxann Biggs-Dawson as B'Elanna Torres *Jennifer Lien as Kes *Robert Duncan McNeill as Tom Paris *Ethan Phillips as Neelix *Robert Picardo as The Doctor *Tim Russ as Tuvok *Garrett Wang as Harry Kim Guest Stars *Basil Langton as the Caretaker *Gavan O'Herlihy as Jabin *Angela Paton as Aunt Adah ;And: *Armin Shimerman as Quark Co-Stars *Alicia Coppola as Lieutenant Stadi *Bruce French as the Ocampa Doctor *Jennifer Parsons as the Ocampa Nurse *David Selburg as Toscat *Jeff McCarthy as the Human Doctor *Stan Ivar as Mark *Scott MacDonald as Rollins *Josh Clark as Joe Carey *Richard Poe as Gul Evek *Keely Sims as Farmer's Daughter *Eric David Johnson as Daggin *Majel Barrett as the computer voice *Tarik Ergin as Ayala (uncredited) *Sue Henley as Brooks (uncredited) *Scott Jaeck as Cavit (uncredited) *Mark Allen Shepherd as Morn (uncredited) References 47; ''Al-Batani'', USS; Alpha Quadrant; angla'bosque; Arias Expedition; Badlands; Bajor system; Baxial; Betazoid; bio-neural circuitry; Bolian tomato soup; Caldik Prime; Cardassians; Caretaker; Caretaker's array; Christmas; clarinet; Class M; cobalt; compression phaser rifle; cormaline; corn; Deep Space 9; Delta Quadrant; deviled egg; displacement wave; Earth; Emergency Medical Hologram (EMH); Federation Council; Ferengi; Fourth Order; G-type star; ''Galor''-class; graviton; ''Intrepid''-class; Julliard Youth Symphony; Kazon; Kazon carrier vessel; Kazon Collective; Kazon-Ogla; Koladan diamond; lek; lemonade; Lobi crystal; Maquis; Maquis raider; medical tricorder; Mollie; Moriya system; NCC-71325; Nacene; New Zealand; New Zealand Penal Settlement; nucleogenic particle; Ocampa; Ocampa (planet); Operations officer; phaser type-1; plasma storm; Quark's Bar; Science officer; security anklet; sickbay; sporocystian lifeform; Starfleet Academy; Starfleet Survival Course; sugar cookie; Talaxian; Terikof belt; tetryon; The Warming; tomato soup; trianoline; tri-cobalt device; tricorder; type-6 shuttlecraft; Val Jean; Vetar; Volnar colony; ''Voyager'', USS; warp core; water; Zakarian External links * Caretaker, Part I at StarTrek.com * Caretaker, Part II at StarTrek.com }} Category:VOY episodes de:Der Fürsorger, Teil I es:Caretaker fr:Caretaker nl:Caretaker (aflevering)